CHENNAI: Blue Energy Motors launches India’s first Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) fueled green truck manufacturing plant at Chakan, Pune, today. The facility was inaugurated by Shri Nitin Gadkari, Hon’ble Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways.
The facility reflects Blue Energy Motors’s focus to disrupt the trucking industry in India by manufacturing clean energy, near-zero emissions trucks. Blue Energy Motors’ trucks will be LNG-fueled, long-haul, heavy-duty trucks.
Blue Energy Motors has already signed an agreement with FPT Industrial, the global powertrain brand of Iveco Group (MI: IVG) headquartered in Italy, to introduce the first LNG trucks powered by FPT Industrial engines which are BSVI compliant. The market entry of the LNG-fueled trucks will start with introduction of 5528 4×2 tractor as the first model.
Blue Energy Motors trucks have been designed & tested in accordance with demanding Indian transport industry’s duty cycles. Powered by FPT Industrial engines generating high torque, these trucks not only deliver best in class TCO, but also offer unmatched ride comfort & safety for the drivers for long hauls. The FPT Industrial engine is one the most powerful natural gas engine in the market and is compatible with CNG, LNG and biomethane; it uses multipoint stoichiometric combustion to assure best-in-class fuel consumption and lower noise than diesel engines.
Shri Nitin Gadkari, Hon’ble Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, said, “It’s a pleasure and pride to launch the first LNG truck in the country. This is the fuel for the future. It’s cost effective and a changemaker for the transport sector. It is a great alternative to petrol and diesel at a time when we import so much. With LNG, there will be savings and we will reduce our logistics cost by 16%, and further bring it down to 10%, which is our target. We are making LNG and CNG from biomass in Maharashtra, Punjab and Haryana. Within 2 years we will have more than 200 capacities in the country. Biofuel is the future and we have a huge potential for export. It’s essential for the economy. The prospects for the industry are great and I am excited about the future, as we move towards reducing pollution.”
Mr. Anirudh Bhuwalka, CEO, Blue Energy Motors commented on the announcement of the manufacturing facility: “India’s first LNG truck manufacturing facility in Chakan, Pune, which we inaugurated today, is our first step towards pioneering the green trucking revolution. We at Blue Energy Motors aim to decarbonize the environment by providing an immediate solution and breaking the barriers of economic returns”.“We are pleased and proud that Blue Energy Motors has chosen us for this major evolution in Indian commercial transport,” said Sylvain Blaise, President of Iveco Group Powertrain Business Unit. “This agreement is of the utmost importance for FPT Industrial, now and in the future, as we want our leading technologies to play a key role to support the ecological transition of one of the world’s largest vehicle markets.”
